Fin Fang Foom (Earth-616)
Real Name: Fin Fang Foom Aliases: He Whose Limbs Shatter Mountains and Whose Back Scrapes the Sun (translation) __TOC__ Status Occupation: Chef, former world conqueror, starship navigator Legal Status: Native of Kakaranthara with pardoned criminal record on Earth Identity: No duel identity Marital Status: Single Group Affiliation: "Fin Fang Four," former ally of the Mandarin, pawn of Doctor Vault, member of starship crew Base of Operations: New York, formerly Valley of the Sleeping Dragon in China Place of Birth: Kakaranthara First Appearance: Strange Tales Vol. 1 #89 (1961) History Character biography Although once believed by legend to be a native of the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon in China, Fin Fang Foom - which, roughly translated, means "He Whose Limbs Shatter Mountains and Whose Back Scrapes the Sun" - is an alien being from the world of Kakaranathara. Resembling a humanoid Chinese dragon, Foom and several other like-minded members of his race departed their peaceful homeworld with the intention of conquering other planets. Landing their craft, of which Foom was the narvigator, in ancient China, the crew used their natural shape-shifting powers to mimic human form, intending to enter human society and bide their time before beginning their conquest. Foom was the exception, elected to serve as a "back-up" in case something went wrong, and was placed in a tomb and given a herb that would send him into a deep slumber, so that he might sleep while his fellows entered man's world. Fin Fang Foom was somehow briefly awakened in the 8th Century, and returned to sleep through a second application of the herb. He consequently entered into Chinese legend, and a group of humans guarded his tomb, passing the job onto their descendants. And so, Foom slept until the year 1961, when he was deliberatley awakened by teenager Chen Liuchow, whose homeland was under threat from the Communist Chinese. Luichow taunted Foom with the threat of the herb, goading the dragon into chasing him, and led him straight into the Commnunist camp, which Foom decimated. Luichow subsequently led him back into his tomb, where the herb returned Foom to his sleep. At some point, the sleeping Fin Fan Foom was captured by the Elders of the Universe known as the Collector and imprisoned in his subterranean collection of monsters. When the Mole Man attacked the facility, Foom and the other monsters were liberated and later rounded up by the recently-formed Fantastic Four and deposited on Monster Isle. However, as the island had no real security measures, and being more intelligent than his fellows and possessing no desire to serve the Mole Man, who used the island as his base, Foom departed and returned to his hibernation. Again, however, outside force acted upon him, as the madman called Doctor Vault mentally controlled Foom and had him attack It the Living Colossus. Resiting the control, Foom instead helped It fend off an invasion of Earth by the alien race called the Stonians, saving the planet for his own race to later conquer. Vault's mind control briefly forced Foom to battle It, and Foom overpowered his opponent with martial arts before freeing his mind and returning to his tomb yet again. Years later, Fin Fang Foom was again roused from his slumber when his body was possessed by the demon Aan Taanu. Combating the group of occult adventurers known as the Legion of the Night in New York, Taanu was exorcised from Foom's body by his opponents, and the confused Foom once again escaped to his resting place. At some point in the past, the Makulans' starship had been ransacked by the man who would become the supervillain called the Mandarin, whose signature rings of power were, in fact, artifacts from Makulan's ship. The Mandarin was directed to the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon by the starship captain, in the human guise of Chen Hsu, and found and awoke Fin Fang Foom, using him to threaten the Chinese government. Iron Man confronted the villains and was defeated, but when the remaining dozen other Makulans shed their human forms to begin their conquest, the Mandarin realised he was being used, and combined the power of his rings with Iron Man's armor, yielding a small nuclear blast which wiped the dragons out. This was not, however, the end of Fin Fang Foom. Though his body was destroyed, his spirit enduring, surviving by bonding itself to a small dragon statue which was stolen from a curio shop by teenager Billy Yuan at Foom's mental urging. Using Yuan's body as a conduit for his power, Foom summoned thousands of lizards from the sewers beneath New York, merging them with Billy's body to recreate his own form. Iron Man was successfully able to defeat him, however, with some help from the last remnants of Billy's mind within Foom's own, and he was taken into the custody of Sunset Bain. Legal complications resulted in Foom being exiled to Monster Isle once again, where he and several other monsters briefly battled the dimensionally-displaced Justice League of America. Shortly after this, Thor was heard to claim that the Hall of Bones on Asgard was crafted from the skeleton of Fin Fang Foom, who he professed to have slain. Whether or not this is an accurate account is in question, as Foom turned up alive and well soon after. Having spent some time rethinking his role in the world, Foom had become a follower of Buddhism, and, with the rest of his crew gone, decided to reform. He willfully entered into a rehabilitation program, which saw himself and three other monsters - the robot Elektro, the giant ape Gorgilla and the alien Googam - shrunk down to human size, hypnotically stripped of their powers, and allowed to enter human society. Taking up a job as head chef in a Chinese restaurant within the Baxter Building, he teamed up with the other monsters to defeat the size-changing warlord Tim Boo Baa. Recently, however, the team known as "Nextwave" investigated a dig being conducted by the sinister Beyond Corporation, which unearthed Fin Fang Foom, who was buried beneath a mountain in Abcess, North Dakota. How this came to be, precisely where this tale falls in Foom's history, or if it is truly part of his continuity, remains to revealed. Characteristics Height: Variable - commonly 32', but known to have been shorter upon arrival on Earth, and 100' before the destruction of his body Weight: Unknown Eyes: Red Hair: None Skin: Green scales Unusual Features: Resembling a humanoid dragon, Fin Fang Foom possesses wings, an elongated neck, antennae, clawed hands and feet and a tail Powers Known Powers: No superhuman powers - all Foom's abilities are natural to his race. Known Abilities: Massive strength and resistance to injury. Flight. Able to breath fire. Despite his animalistic appearance, Foom is exceptionally intelligent. Strength Level: In excess of 100 tons. Miscellaneous Equipment: No known equipment. Transportation: Formerly Makulan starship. Weapons: No known weapons. Notes Thor's foe, the Midgard Serpent, once adopted Fin Fang Foom's form to battle the God of Thunder, only with orange scales instead of Foom's traditional green. Trivia Fin Fang Foom was a regular character on the Iron Man animated series from 1994-195, voiced by Neil Ross. Though notable for not adhering to the comics with particular accuracy, the series related Fin Fang Foom's story was a fair amount of faithfulness and a few notable changes. Here, rather than set their sights on the planet, the Makulans crashed on Earth, and hid themselves in human form using the power of ten gems. Fin Fang Foom was left to guard their ship, and hibernated within it, rather than in a tomb. When the Mandarin uncovered the ship and took the ten gems, he battled Foom, but neither opponent could best the other, and they entered into an uneasy truce: Foom would aid the Mandarin in his campaigns against Iron Man in return for the Mandarin's aid at a later date - that date being a galactic alignment which would allow the dragons to return to their original forms. When the Mandarin fulfilled his part of the bargain, however, he discovered that the dragons had duped him and planned to open a portal to their homeworld to allow their race to conquer the planet. Turning on the reptiles, the Mandarin linked his rings with Iron Man's armor, and the blast wiped the dragons out. References *''Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monter Hunters'' - published by Marvel Comics, Nov 2005 ---- Category:Characters Category:Animals Category:Alien Characters Category:Article Request